GRINNELL, Iowa – If Saturday's preview is an indicator, fans at next weekend's Midwest Conference Volleyball Tournament will be in for a treat.
Grinnell wrapped up the second seed for the event with a thrilling five-set thriller over Monmouth College in a match that lasted 2 hours and 11 minutes.
The 26-24, 25-22, 24-26, 24-26, 15-12 marathon win at Darby Gymnasium sealed the tourney seedings, as Monmouth grabbed the third seed. Grinnell and Monmouth will meet in the semifinal round of the tourney at 4:30 p.m. Friday in Mount Vernon.
Grinnell reached the 20-victory plateau for just the fifth time in program history by moving to 20-9 and 7-1 in the MWC. Monmouth dipped to 19-10 overall and 6-2 in the league.
The Pioneers, who stretched their winning string against Monmouth to eight matches dating back to 2016, pounded down a season-high 68 kills while hitting .236.
Jenna Keller '25 had 24 kills for the Pioneers while hitting .345, while
Millie Leonard '27 had 15 kills and hit .538.
Emily Brewer '25, who ranks sixth in program history for sets played with 417 and eighth in matches with 120, had 31 assists and
Kylie-Ann Smith '27 added 24. Leonard served two aces and
Hayley Taka '26, Leonard,
Keira Sullivan '27 and
Ella O'Neill '25 ach posted three blocks.
Leonard also served two aces and
Sophie Weber '25 came up with 29 digs, moving to fifth-best for a season at Grinnell with 542. Keller and Smith also had double-digit digs with 19 and 11, respectively.
Grinnell trailed the first set 23-22 before closing with a 4-1 run that included two kills and ace by Sullivan. Grinnell also trailed the set 21-20 before ending with a 5-1 run that included one block by O'Neill and another by Sullivan and O'Neill.
Monmouth took the next two sets to force a deciding fifth. The Pioneers were down 10-9 before scoring three in a row on two kills by Leonard and one by Keller. After a Monmouth point, the teams traded points to make it a 13-12 Grinnell lead. Keller finished it off with two booming kills to wrap up a spectacular career at Darby.
